[JesusIsLord]

There is no lack of hypocrisy in the Roman Catholic religion. You criticize Protestants regarding divorce but the RC religion divorces married people all the time. You call it annulment, which is a BS word for divorce. I have a Catholic acquaintance who married a Protestant girl in a Lutheran church. They had a beautiful baby boy. My acquaintance decided he was tired of his wife so he started shacking up with a Catholic girl. He eventually got a divorce and later paid for a Catholic annulment. He was well connected and it's amazing what money can buy. Now he has his Catholic family and is an upstanding RC Catholic with all it rights and privileges. In the eyes of the RC religion, his little boy is a bastard. Damned hypocrites!!

Regarding Mary: there is no question that she is to be honored, loved and respected. She is Jesus' earthly mother and holds a place that no other person holds. The problem is that the RC religion has elevated her as our mediator and co-redemtrix. All the crazy RC religion doctrine in the world will not change what non-Catholics see, which is that the RC religion worships Mary. If it walks like a duck, quacks like a duck ....

[kearnyirish2]

While I can certainly believe it is abused by corrupt people (both applicants and churchmen), an annulment is very specific in that it requires an existing condition at the time of the marriage (a pregnancy, closet homosexuality, mental illness, etc. - again, AT THE TIME OF THE MARRIAGE). Ted Kennedy’s first wife contested the annulment of their marriage publicly because she knew he had no grounds for it under Church law. Anyone who thinks they’ve fooled God with a fake annulment (or granted one) will face judgment like the rest of us; I wouldn’t want to be in their position.

Also, we view all of the saints as mediators, asking them to intercede on our behalf.

[Campion]

I have a Catholic acquaintance who married a Protestant girl in a Lutheran church.

A Catholic who marries outside the Church without permission contracts an invalid marriage. There's no need to be "well connected," nor does it matter "what money can buy". It's the easiest annulment in the books.

None of this is to endorse what your acquaintance did, of course. I'm just pointing out that you're mistaken if you think his case somehow required some sort of extracurricular help. It's very ordinary, and very straightforward. Any priest could have explained that to him, BEFORE he married in the Lutheran church. Did he bother to ask?

BTW, the state divorced them first. Why does all of your wrath come against the church -- who, in effect although not in intent, merely ratified what the state had done -- and none against the state?

In the eyes of the RC religion, his little boy is a bastard.

This is false. In the current code of canon law, there is no concept of illegitimacy. But even when there was, children of a marriage entered into in good faith by at least one party were always considered legitimate.